Dimitrov: Prespes deal ‘second chance for my generation’

The name deal between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), which set the Balkan state on its path to NATO membership, will help revitalize the transatlantic alliance, the country’s foreign minister Nikola Dimitrov has said, while calling the so-called Prespes accord “a second chance” for his generation.

“NATO is a family that is about security, stability, predictability, and a better and more peaceful world,” Dimitrov told a forum at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington on Tuesday. “For you on the inside it is probably easy to forget how cold it is on the outside,” he added.

Dimitrov said that the former Yugoslav Republic had for decades been “locked in a waiting room,” as he went on to describe the name deal as “a second chance for my generation.”

The deal, which renames FYROM “Republic of North Macedonia,” was ratified by the Greek parliament last month.